78 THE ROSE. 



the plant; whereas older plants, carefully 

 grown, will give effective results the first 

 year. Some nurserymen make a practice of 

 cutting away all the flower buds from free 

 blooming varieties, which form on the young 

 plants during the first year's growth; this 

 practice is to be highly commended; such 

 plants are far more valuable to the purchaser 

 than those not so treated. Quality should 

 always be preferred to quantity ; this is true 

 whether respecting the plants or the flowers of 

 roses, and one good two-year plant is worth 

 more than six of the sucklings often sent by 

 mail poor, weak infants, which never should 

 have been sent from the nursery just as one 

 good bloom of Marie Baumann, or Alfred 

 Colomb, is worth half a dozen of Pius the IX. 

 or Triomphe de 1' Exposition. 



Care must be exercised that the soil about 

 the plant be well pulverized and no hard 

 lumps allowed to remain in contact with the 

 roots; after the plants are set out, be sure 

 that they are firmly pressed in with the feet 

 or hands ; plants that are loosely stuck in the 

 ground can never do well. Another prom- 

 inent thing to bear in mind is : never allow 

 the plants to lie exposed to the wind and 

 sun, keep them covered until ready to plant. 

 The distance apart is somewhat regulated by 



